8 More Regular People Who Became Internet Memes

Last month we introduced you to nine real people whose pictures have become famous on the internet. Now meet eight more!

1. Ridiculously Photogenic Guy

Zeddie Watkins Little is a good-looking guy. So good looking, in fact, that his face has been plastered over the Mona Lisa and Jesus. The shot above, taken during the 2012 Cooper River Bridge Run by computer programmer and self-taught photographer Will King, was a “total fluke,” Little says. After the photo stormed Reddit, Little chatted with Redditors about his newfound fame. He admits that he’s not hating the whole thing: “I have to say, I really enjoy being part of such a good joke.” He also showed up on Good Morning America with Will King to tell the story.

2. Skateboarding Professor

“Walking sucks, so I get there on my wheels.” That’s how Dr. Thomas Winter, a professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, explains why the skateboard is his preferred mode of transportation. While he says there’s nothing remarkable about the way he gets around campus, the internet begs to differ. After Redditor tr0llzor posted a picture of the 68-year-old rolling to class, a meme was born. Winter admits that he finds the image captions’ "contemporary slang" confusing, and is further confused by the idea of memes in general—in an interview with Mashable, the professor thought he was being asked about Richard Dawkins’ genetic memes.

3. Angry Hipster Girl

It started a couple of years ago with a Halloween costume: “Birkenstocks with wool socks, jean shorts, tie-dye crop top, braided band in my hair and a prescription pair of glasses... It seemed only appropriate to grab a quick and silly shot of my costume before going out to party. The next day I posted it on Facebook and Flickr, and then forgot about it.” Then a few months ago, Kate Killet’s friend forwarded a link to Quickmeme and asked if it was a picture of her. It was!

Since being branded Angry Hipster Girl, Kate says she’s been recognized by “lots of friends of friends and randoms I haven't talked to in years,” but hasn’t been approached by strangers about her memedom. Should you find yourself in the same situation, she has a bit of advice: “Enjoy your internet 5 minutes. Don't get mad or offended, the internet loves you. And turn off your Twitter and Facebook notifications, cus you'll get roughly a million.”

(This is Kate's official internet reveal. Thanks to _floss reader Jenny Serwylo, who is quite funny and also on Twitter, for outing her friend in the comments of my earlier post.)

4. Baby Godfather

The image that started the Baby Godfather meme, which is exactly what it sounds like, was taken at a wedding in 2010. Redditor timekeepsgoing posted the picture of his son with a request to Photoshop the intimidating little guy into scenes from The Godfather. Timekeepsgoing keeps a scrapbook of the best images for his son, who is now five years old.

5. Pepper-Spray Cop

The day Lt. John Pike nonchalantly pepper-sprayed a group of Occupy protesters at UC Davis in November 2011, the video and photos were spread across most major news outlets. Simultaneously, he started showing up in other places with his can of Defense Technology 56895 MK-9, casually spraying everyone from the Founding Fathers to Mister Rogers.

6. Friendzone Johnny

Just about everyone has felt the pang of unrequited love, but almost no one has to live through it while the internet laughs. Johnny Solis is the exception. In January 2012, he showed up at midnight to his friend Lizz’s house with flowers to wish Lizz a happy birthday. She took a picture, posted it to Facebook with the caption “I am so blessed to have such great friends. Thank you sososoo much Jonathon!” Within hours, it was shared on Reddit and Quickmeme. The next day, Johnny identified himself on Reddit and did a Q&A in a bodybuilding forum. Later, he and Lizz changed their Facebook statuses to “married to” each other, but Johnny revealed that this was just a tactic to “get people off [their] backs.”

Though Johnny and Lizz apparently never got together, he seems to be taking the ordeal in stride, saying that becoming a meme makes him happy because “I became famous and more girls are talking to me.”

7 & 8. Vancouver Riot Kiss

Canadians are famously well-mannered, but after the Canucks lost to the Bruins in last year’s Stanley Cup finals, our neighbors to the north took to the streets to wreak havoc. Caught in the mayhem, Alexandra Thomas was knocked to the ground by shield-wielding riot police. Her boyfriend, Scott Jones, swooped in to comfort her; the kiss was caught by a photographer and on video from several angles, most of which included fire and riot police in the frame. The smooching couple were subsequently Photoshopped into scenes of extreme danger or inappropriateness, or in the background of other famous kissing scenes.